Elementalism is an epic new mapset for GZDoom.
At nearly 5 years in the making, this has been a labor of love for everyone involved, and it is amazing (and slightly surreal) to have it finally released! A celebration of both advanced UDMF mapping and classic Doom gameplay, the aim of the mapset is to bring together the classic Doom experience we love with ambitious, high-concept modern mapping techniques. I can’t wait for you all the enjoy it! – Bauul
Project lead:
Bauul
Maps by:
Bauul
Bridgeburner56
Clay
DMPhobos
Dragonfly
Dreadopp
Phade
Remmirath
Music by:
HeavenWraith
HexenMapper
Primeval
Speedy
Tristan Clark
The full OST is available on YouTube and Spotify!
And a fantastic supporting team of testers, programmers and artists:
antares031, boris, Cyano Blugron, Guardsoul, Gutawer, Insane_Gazebo, Jazzmaster9, Jimmy, Kaapeli47, Lazorical, Liberation, LowGcifer, Major Arlene, Pegleg, Rachael, Simpletonium, Stormcatcher.77, Terminus, TheEvilGrin, Velvetic, Wolf McBeard, Xyzzy01, Yugiboy85
GZDoom 4.7.1. Other GZDoom versions may work, but mileage will vary.
What are the minimum system requirements?
You need an Open GL 3.3 compatible GPU and a CPU with decent single-core speed. Like many modern GZDoom mapsets this has system requirements on the higher side, but we have worked carefully to optimize it as much as possible so it should run fine even on lower-end hardware.
What visual settings should I use?
Elementalism only works in the Hardware renderer. Dynamic lights are strongly recommended, as are shadowmaps if your hardware supports them.
What gameplay settings should I use?
Jump and Crouch are required. Freelook is optional, but heavily recommended. All the necessary comp-settings are set in the ZMAPINFO so you shouldn’t have to worry about them. However, if you find you are encountering odd behavior, please ensure your comp settings are set to Default.
Can I run mods with this?
Probably not. Robustly made mods may work to a degree, but some conflicts are likely inevitable. If you run into specific problems and would like more information, speak to the mods’ author.
How challenging is the mapset?
Not super challenging on the scale of modern mapsets, probably similar to something like Eviternity. If you want to experience the full UV monster count but are concerned about the difficulty, I strongly recommend trying the two new difficulties: Mild-Violence and Medium-Violence. They maintain the full UV monster count but improve the survivability of the player.
How long are the maps?
First playthroughs will vary between 20-30 minutes for the shorter maps and 45-60 minutes for the longer ones.
Can I change the Elementalism Options after starting a game?
Yes! Every option in the Elementalism Options menu can be toggled at any point, even swapping between pistol start and semi-continuous map starts.
I like to pistol start maps – how should I do that?
Select “Pistol Start” in the Elementalism Options menu. Do not use IDCLEV or MAP commands to reset the map, as you will lose your progress through the Hub.
I like to play continuous – where did some of my weapons go?
“Semi-continuous” is the only continuous option. In order not to unbalance the mapset, high-tier weaponry does not transfer between levels.
When will Phase 2 come out?
Progress has begun, but it’ll be a long (long) time!
Join in the discussion at Doomworld.com or join us on our Discord channel at the Hellforge Server!
Following no major reported bugs from the final RC2 release, we have successfully transitioned the project to Full Release v1.0!
Download the full release build from the Mod DB downloads page here: Moddb.com
Additionally, the full Soundtrack has had a full official release! You can listen to the whole thing on YouTube and Spotify!
Large update for Elementalism Phase 1, featuring bug fixes, graphical tweaks and performance improvements.
Phase 1 of the GZDoom mapset Elementalism is out now! 15 maps, a bunch of huge bosses and lots of demons to kill in visually epic locations.
Phase 1 has a release date - March 5th 2022! Check out the new release trailer here!
Preview of the new weapons, custom mapset-wide enhancements, and a collection of new screenshots
Elementalism is an epic new mapset for GZDoom. Phase 1 out now!
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I want to enjoy this mod as the map design is amazing. The problem is the amount of times you get locked into a small arena with 100+ enemies, half of them being revenants or some kind of heavy demon is absurd. The water temple was a miserable experience.
There are a great many Doom wads that do focus on locked-in combat encounters, but Elementalism isn't one of them. In fact the biggest encounter in the level I think you mean by "the water temple" (the second water level) has about a dozen enemies at most. Are you sure you're not mixing up cramped combat with arena fights?
For anyone else reading this, Elementalism is generally considered on the easier end of the spectrum of modern mapsets. Additionally it contains two new difficulty settings - Medium-Violence and Mild-Violence - to reduce how dangerous the monsters are.
Sorry, by water temple I meant The Realm of Water. Specifically in W3 there was an arena filled with a large amount of imps, hell knights, revenants and a cyberdemon in the center. W4 when acquiring the blue key and facing off two cyberdemons, 20+ revenants on both staircases and the handful on mancubus on the ground floor. Also the small hallway at the end of W4 with the two cyberdemons.
I did change the difficulty to medium-violence as you suggested however and had a much better experience. I was playing on Ultra previously so that's my bad. I'm really enjoying the mod now!
horrible experience with this one, tried it with mmdoom and it kept forcing me to use some random element staff replacing my player's actual weapon and it kept spawning its own monsters instead of using the mmdoom ones, it doesnt seem to work with that mod at all. i'm making a custom patch which rewrites out your stuff so that it works with mmdoom and releasing it with or without your permission.
As explained in the readme, this mapset was not designed for mod support. The custom enemies and weapons are an integral part of the experience, and the maps were built with them in mind. They keep appearing because they are part of the mapset. I find your anger at the mapset behaving correctly peculiar.
Estimated time of release for Phase 2?
Realistically a long way off. I'm taking a substantial break from Doom mapping, plus another five years or so to finish Phase 2, puts the release date somewhere in the mid 2030s.
stronghold is twice as ambitious and took lesser time?
Jimmy made an entire megawad, Deathless, in just 9 days, while Mordeth's new megawad has been in progress for 25 years. Project length has never been an indicator of ambition in Doom mapping.
a zandronum vanilla compatible (meaning no custom things) version would be nice, grate mod regardless.
Not possible unfortunately: Sadly Zandronum lacks many of the features necessary for the maps to work, even aside from the new custom things.